California dreaming
Fine wine and blue skies are part of the attraction for an expat Kiwi in the US
When Angela Osbourne first left Auckland in 2002 for a wine harvest internship in Sonoma County, California, she thought it would be a temporary break before pursuing filmmaking back home. But after falling in love with winemaking and grenache (a type of grape that grows in California), it was only a matter of time before she moved over for good.
When did you move to America?
I moved to California in 2006 and since then I’ve hopped around various wine regions throughout California: Los Olivos to Ojai to Petaluma to Santa Rosa to the Sierra Foothills to Napa to Los Alamos. The last stop was the one to put our roots down.
What do you love most about the city?
In honesty, I love that it is a town rather than a city, with a permanent population of just over 1000. We are situated about an hour north of Santa Barbara, in a wine region called the Santa Ynez Valley. There are big beautiful open skies, lots of rolling hills, and it is both agriculturally rich (many vineyards, row crops, wild flowers, cattle ranches) whilst also being culturally rich: farmworkers living alongside artists, chefs, potters… The Pacific is only 20 minutes south, so we still get lots of ocean medicine, and our boys are loving learning to surf. For city energy, LA is three hours south, and San Francisco is four hours north with Big Sur in between. It’s a magical part of California.
What is your favourite local spot?
I think every community needs a sacred meeting place, be it for a meal or a drink or a place of nature-medicine. Our favourite restaurant, Bell’s, is all three. Gorgeous freshness sourced from local farms, fishermen, winemakers, via a very French classicism. They were just awarded a Michelin star last year, so it’s a little harder to get a table now… They’re also very savvy when it comes to flat whites, so we happily take a lunch table whenever we can.
How is the city living with Covid-19 now?
We were bound to Santa Barbara County for most of the past two years and our world was masked, social gatherings of any sort disappeared completely, our tasting room was closed more than it was open . . . but now our local world is finally re-opening.
Birthday parties are back, playdates are back, and I recently did my first winemaker dinner since February 2020. It felt oddly familiar to be in an indoor setting again, with strangers, unmasked, talking about grenache.
Our kids’ school just lifted the mask mandate last week.
All three lads (4, 6 and 8) have had to wear a mask every day at school/preschool for the past two years, so we are grateful that they can finally appreciate the nuances of facial expression in the classroom again.
Plus, we can kiss them goodbye at the gate, without pretending that through a mask is such a normal way to say goodbye… it’s the little things that have become so very big. Have you travelled anywhere recently?
We have been flightless birds for the past two years. America shut down on March 13, 2020, like the rest of California (and much of the country), and our first trip out of state was just six weeks ago.
The pandemic was a very internal time for our family and the people we knew. We spent the majority of 2020 (literally) at home, trying to figure out homeschooling, on a 600-acre cattle ranch with bobcats and retail hawks for company.
Are there any destinations you’re dreaming of visiting now?
Aotearoa. Having fish and chips with my Mum and my besties at Piha or drinking a Kokako flat white. Watching the sunset from Northcote Point, walking on the white sands of Rarawa and swimming in the beautiful Pacific (preferably with a view of Rangitoto).
Do you miss anything about New Zealand? Everything. The people, the light, the ease of laughter, kererū, the thoughtfulness, the humour, the food, the definition of hospitality. And the colours.
While we live in a gorgeously vibrant part of California during harvest time, during the heat of summer it is bone dry, and all is so very brown. The number of times I have dreamed of a bushwalk in the Waitākere ranges over the past two years… I can smell it if I close my eyes tightly enough.
What advice would you give Kiwis preparing to visit America?
Practice kindness. Be patient. Know that boundaries have been redefined over the past two years and we are all just learning to fly again.
Do you know a Kiwi overseas who would like to share their story? Email travel@nzherald.co.nz with Life After Lockdown in the subject line